


Blood Bond

by JenniferEsther



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/M, Soulmates, Teacher (school lbirarian) student relationship, Teacher-Student Relationship, Willow meets the age of consent
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-20
Updated: 2017-01-20
Packaged: 2018-09-18 16:34:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9393851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JenniferEsther/pseuds/JenniferEsther
Summary: "Then he handed her the book. And everything changed."My take on what Willow was repressing with her unrequited crush on Xander.





	1. Chap. 1

**Author's Note:**

> Minor discussion of religious issues  
> DISCLAIMER: These characters are the property of Joss Whedon, The  
> WB, and Mutant Enemy. The story is mine. The  
> quotation is from Percy Blythe Shelly's poem "The Witch of Atlas."
> 
> My first published fic from 1998. It was on Worst Witch and UCSL, the Unconventional Shippers List  
> I wrote this for ASH's 44th birthday 2/4/98. It reflects my understanding of safe sex and the layout of Giles' apartment at the time.

Good gods, she'd kissed him. Giles sat paralyzed in the broken chair, still gripping its arm which he'd snapped off in his struggle to keep from grabbing her.  She'd kissed him, and she'd as good as promised to make love to him. A girl who was his student, with whom he worked so closely.

 

He'd tried to tell her that he didn't want her to come near him, that he wanted her to stop kissing him, but his lips wouldn't utter those lies. Not when he'd wanted her from first sight. He'd known he was in love with her for months, now.  And it was real love, love that had grown as he came to know her.  It wasn't just some mystic prophecy, this blood bond; it did show the path for true love.

 

But how had she known about it? Was she reading the watcher diaries? And why, oh why, had he even tried to explain it? He had no idea that she would make the connection between an arcane bit of watcher lore and the two of them; still, he shouldn't have spoken of the bond to her.  He knew she would have found the information anyway, but maybe he would have been spared the torture of that kiss.  God, he didn't want to be spared.

 

He lunged from the chair, roaring his frustration. "I love her and I am not going to allow her to sacrifice her body, or her future, to me.  The powers can just bloody well find another way to fulfill the prophecy!"  By the time his mystic double number 44th birthday arrived in a few days, he could be far from her; she wouldn't have the financial resources to follow.

 

He knew that was stuff and nonsense; he couldn't leave. The Hellmouth was still at hand.  Buffy wouldn't be a very effective slayer if her watcher disappeared.  He was ready to damn Sunnydale to Hell, but what if she was harmed because he left?  Maybe he could just barricade himself in his house.  After all, the prophecy said his lifemate would come to him in his bed.  He would just stay out of bed and not let anyone he knew into the house.  When the woman sent by the watcher's council showed up, he would relieve her of her virginity as quickly as possible, making the approved woman his lifemate, and thus setting his true love free.

 

He restlessly paced the library as he thought. Finding himself in front of the bookshelf containing watcher references and journals he decided to look through the lore once more, in hopes of finding a loophole.   He pulled the appropriate books and piled them on the study table, then settled himself behind it. As he had so often in the past he sought the solution to his problems in his books.  "Hmmm.  Must bond with a lifemate no later than one's 44th birthday, lifemate must be a virgin, must be the first virgin the watcher beds. Bond guarantees a fertile union, at least one child generally in five to ten years after bond formed." He knew marriage wasn't required, since the rules predated the formal ceremony, but he vaguely recalled that no escape lay there. He flipped to the appropriate text. "Let's see. Watcher and lifemate need not remain together, but neither can cleave to another, lest that outsider die before or upon the taking of vows. Love was... not required."  Damn. He could cherish his love, but not possess her. Have a child but not one with her hair, her eyes.

 

But in the next few precious days, until his fateful birthday, he would love her. He would savor every moment they were together and he would remember every moment of the past.  He prayed, to who he didn't know, that he could let her go.

 

Memories. She was one of the first people he had met on the job. He'd been behind the desk, trying to fit into his new role of librarian, when she walked through the doors.  //What a beautiful woman.//  His body instantly responded. //Down old chap.  This is a high school. She's probably a student.// He couldn't, however, keep his eyes off her as she walked into the stacks. He did finally notice the boy who had come in beside her. They were arguing in a friendly manner.  //See, she has a nice boyfriend her own age. Focus on your mission.//

 

She came back out of the shelves empty-handed. She had the most endearing combination of shyness and determination on her face as she moved toward him. He started forward and bumped hard into the desk. Brought back to normalcy, he asked in his best librarian's tone, "May I help you"?

 

She was staring fixedly at his jacket. Gripping the edge of the desk, she said "My book is gone.  I had to return it for the inventory and now I want it back."   Then, she looked directly into his eyes for the first time.

 

His eyes locked to hers, distracting him; he knew he had to say something. "Yes" he asked, with a pause, "and that book would be"? He was gripping his side of the desk.

 

She stepped back and dropped her eyes, obviously embarrassed.   //Has she been reading some smarmy romance novel?// Somehow he expected more

of a girl who looked so intelligent. "It's, it's Jane Austen's Persuasion" she stammered.

 

"My favorite book" he blurted out before remembering librarians weren't supposed to comment on the students choice of reading material for fear of scaring them off.

 

"Mine too" she replied moving so close to the desk that he could smell her light powdery perfume.

 

"Actually it's in my office. I was just re-reading it." In for a penny in for a pound he figured. He headed for his office to retrieve it, but a small thump made him look back . She had stepped right into the desk and jumped back as if it had bitten her. He took a minute in his office to pull himself back together. //You're a  professional, act like one.// He  convinced himself he was only acting from the highest motives of customer service when he came out of the office to give her the book.

 

Then he handed her the book. And everything changed.

 

The instant their hands touched, all the blood in his body rushed toward his skin. Feverish heat spread quickly from his center to his head, arms and legs. She flushed too, visibly, for ten seconds.  He fell back. It couldn't be, not now, not here, not when he had to train his first slayer. But he knew it was true. They shared the blood bond.

 

The girl grabbed the book and ran out of the library, leaving her bemused male companion behind. "Who?" Giles stammered.  The boy answered "I guess you need to check out the book , huh"? Giles forced a nod. "Her name is Willow, Willow Rosenberg. She's a sophomore. Well, gotta go."

 

Giles was so stunned he didn't even notice where the boy went. //Oh prophets, a child, only a sophomore. Well, she doesn't know.  Except she ran out of here as if she knew I was a dirty old man. She'll probably never come back.// Already he felt sick at the thought of never seeing her again. //You might see her on campus.  It's a small school. But you must never speak to her.//  He threw himself into organizing the library and preparing for his slayer and he tried to forget.

 

He'd not had to face the problem of  never seeing her again.  Instead there had been the sweet torture of seeing her far too often. Of learning about her amazing mind and her thirst for knowledge, so like his own. Of seeing the strength of her friendships and even being a friend, of a sort. Of experiencing her loyalty, observing her bravery. Of watching how she had overcome her natural fears to the point where she had even staked a vampire herself.

 

He had quickly seen that her heart belonged to Xander. It hurt to know she didn't love him. He told himself it was much better that way. Since he could never touch her, she should find happiness elsewhere. Xander's indifference toward her was like a double pointed stake in his heart. It hurt to see her unappreciated and unhappy. And it hurt more to stop himself from comforting her.

 

At first he blamed Buffy for attracting Xander, but soon he saw that she didn't encourage him. Besides, Buffy had repeatedly earned his trust as the Slayer and as a friend. Then he blamed Xander, but not much. No matter what his intellect told him, he did not want another male to touch his woman.

 

So he watched Willow as discreetly as he could, praised her research, and never touched her. And suffered. Whenever he entered the courtyard, or the halls, or the cafeteria, anywhere that Willow might be, he instinctively looked for her. He tried to tell himself he was looking for Buffy, but he kept looking even when he was with Buffy.  Everyone seemed to think he was looking for Jennie Calendar, and he let them think that. Sometimes, he couldn't believe that so few people even seemed to see Willow. To his English eye, she far out-shown the flashier types, like Buffy and Cordelia. Willow didn't seem to be to the taste of southern Californians.   Giles found, as Shelly had written, "her beauty made the bright world dim, and everything beside seemed like the fleeting image of a shade."

 

The worst, or best, times were those when they were alone in the library doing research. Not only did he have to worry about whatever crisis was at hand and how Buffy was faring, he practically had to fight to keep his hands off Willow. Sometimes he did give her a pat on the shoulder, supposedly encouragement. That was even worse.  Too much for comfort and far too little for satisfaction.

 

For one unforgettable, very awkward dance at the prom he had held her in his arms. He held her far from his raging body, at proper chaperon distance. It had been heaven and it had been hell.  He felt he was qualified to judge at least the part about hell. By the goddess, he wanted to do so much more than hold her in his arms. He wanted to do everything it was possible to do with a woman, even though none of it was possible for him with Willow.

 

That dance had determined him in a course to find a more appropriate outlet for his romantic, who was he fooling  his sexual, feelings. He forced himself to consider another woman, and eventually approached Jennie Calendar. He'd been nervous and a bit guilty.  He knew as a watcher he could never marry Jennie. He knew it couldn't be Willow but he would have to take a lifemate. Then, Jennie had been possessed by a demon he had raised. He felt even guiltier.  He wanted to help her, but could he be honest with her about having  someone else who was his lifemate? When he finally explained to her about the obligations and requirements for a lifemate she seemed to understand why there had always been a distance between them. He still knew he could never tell her about his blood bond with Willow.

 

He hated weekends.   He found the long summer holiday an abomination. When the fall term began he had gone eagerly to work every morning, often being the first arrival at the school. Giles almost became a morning person, which was abnormal for a watcher. Mornings, he could be optimistic. Optimistic that he would see Willow, and optimistic that her effect on him would lessen. Evenings, he despaired that his love for her could never die and would never be returned.

 

School days her followed the movements of her hands. Nights he dreamed of how those hands would feel on his skin. How her hair would look spread across his pillow. He imagined the taste of her lips and what it would be like to hear words of love in her voice. He dreamed of her perfume and so much more. In his dreams he could forget their differences. The morning light made him remember every obstacle, but he could never fully dismiss his dreams.

 

He hated his inability to control his feelings. He knew he was scum to want to touch such purity. Willow's trust was so special to him that he did not dare even talk to her as much as he wanted. The shortness of temper and aloofness he had always possessed became more and more pronounced as he fought in vain for control of his feelings.

 

Giles knew he was suffering the perversity of fate as Willow gave up working in the computer lab for haunting the library. She was inescapable there, with Buffy and Xander, or alone. She claimed that she liked the quiet, although the trio of friends usually studied to loud rock music. She listened when he lectured and asked intelligent questions. She taught him some basic computer skills without ridiculing his nervous mistakes. Willow asked him about classical music and lent him some of her music.  She even tried to talk to him about Buffy as if they were all equal friends. How could he so desire to betray such innocent trust?

 

Giles knew he would have loved Willow even if he were just a high school librarian, but the blood bond made him unable to deny his feelings on any level. The blood bond, that was what it all came down too.  The sign by which a Watcher would know the woman who was the most perfect woman for him in all the world. The total sustained flush that would overcome both, triggered at their first skin to skin touch.

 

As a teenager he had tested as many women as he could, looking for his lifemate as if life were a fairy tale.   In his twenties, he had denied and feared his heritage. He had hoped the blood bond would never manifest, even as he continued touching as many women as intimately as he could. When he had come back to his responsibilities and gone to work for the museum, it seemed to him he'd lost all opportunities to contact women at all. He decided that he would never find the perfect woman and resolved to wait and see if a lifemate really did show up on his 44th birthday.

 

After so many years of resigning himself to a loveless life he'd begun to feel unlovable. He knew Willow could never return what he felt for her. Yet she had kissed him with so much passion.  She might be old enough to feel passion but she wasn't old enough to decide who she wanted to spend her life with, whom she wanted to father her children. No, on the night of his birthday he was going to lock himself in his house and maybe cast a few protective runes. Against what, he wasn't

sure, but it seemed like a good idea. He might even hide in the closet until the woman from the watcher's council showed up.

 

 


	2. Chap 2.

On the evening of his birthday, he decided he wasn't in fact so cowardly as to hide in his closet. He locked all the doors and windows and searched the house for intruders. He bathed and dressed in his best suit. Of course he always ordered identical suits from his tailor in London, but he knew it was his newest suit. He even left the porch light on so the woman from the council could find his door. He tried to find some peace within himself for doing the right thing, but he found none.

Several times he broke down at the thought of losing Willow, even though she had never been his to lose. Each time, he would busy himself casting another rune of protection. By 10 PM he was pacing in the living room, wondering where his council-approved lifemate could be. He had the bedroom all prepared: clean sheets and towels, new box of condoms, soft music, burning candles. //Maybe he did have to be inbed for her to show up.// But he couldn't bear to meet someone new soopenly.

Suddenly his front door opened and in stepped ...Willow. "How ...?" His shock imprisoned him in the corner between the couch and the fireplace. Not only was she in his house; she looked better than he'd ever seen her. She was wearing her shortest skirt (he knew them all) and a top tight enough to show the outlines of a bra had she been wearing one. She looked totally confident holding a piece of paper in one hand and dangling his door key from the other. "Buffy loaned me her key. She's covering for me, and no, she doesn't know why I'm here. I just told her it was a watcher's prophecy you needed some help with" His emotions burst forth as anger. "You must leave. The woman from the watcher's council will be here any minute."

Willow locked the door and leaned back against it. "She's already here."

Giles moved toward Willow; he had to get her to leave. "She can't be. I searched the house after I locked up; there's no one else here."

"No, there isn't." Willow came forward, up the stairs, holding out a piece of parchment. "I'm the woman from the council. They do have email, you know. But I didn't think you'd trust that, especially from a known hacker, so I had them FedEx this to me. Check the seal. Check anything you want."

Giles made no move to take the document looking at it as if it were a sentence to the tower. "You can't be. They don't even know who you are." "Yes they do. Careful as you were to avoid it, there was mention of me in your reports. They investigated - to be sure I wasn't a minion of hell I guess - and I told them the rest." She stood holding out the parchment.

"So that's how you got past the runes."

"I was practically drawn here. I don't think I really needed the key."

"You shouldn't have contacted the council. You shouldn't be here. I don't want you." Giles grabbed the envelope from her hand, ripped it in half and hurled the pieces behind him.

"I don't believe you. The blood bond doesn't lie and I wouldn't be very perfect for you if you didn't want me." Willow retorted, balling up her fists.

"What about perfect for you? You're in love with Xander." Giles accused as he rose on the balls of his feet, ready to dart in any direction away form Willow.

"I never even noticed Xander until I met you." Giles stared at her with disbelief. "I only fooled myself into thinking I liked him so I could avoid my very real feelings for you. I wasn't ready. I was scared." Willow opened her fists and stretched her palms out to him.

"You're still not ready. You should be scared to death." Giles raised his arms to ward Willow away.

"Now you sound like you're lecturing Buffy." Willow took one step back and drew herself up to her full height.

"And you're being as stubborn as she is." Giles returned, crossing his arms.

"When she trusts her instincts, she's right, and so am I. I'm trusting my instincts now." She tried to move closer but he side stepped her.

"What about Buffy, then? Are you ready to be a step-mother to your best friend?" Giles stopped and turned to confront her again.

"At least I can understand her problems." Willow followed his movements to face him.

"Do you want to be caught up in Buffy's problems forever? Do you want to give up being a normal teenager?" He tried to turn from her again.

"Yes! Yes, I want to share her troubles and I'm ready to stop being a normal teen, or as normal as I ever was." Willow circled to stay in front of him.

"Zeus! What can I tell you to make you leave?" Giles made a break past Willow toward the hall to the backdoor .

"You can tell me you're in love with someone else. Are you? Are you in love with Miss Calendar or anyone else?" Willow allowed him to retreat a few steps.

Giles sensed he had a way out and he leapt for it. "Yes, yes" he answered. "I am in love with someone other than Miss Calendar."

Willow moved right in front of him, looked him in the eye and said  
"Who?"

Oh God, oh gods, he was trapped. Giles sighed deeply “With you. I love you, Willow Rosenberg." She threw her arms around him and started to kiss him. He held her tightly but moved his face out of her reach. “You know I'm not Jewish. God, whoever he/she is, knows I would convert if it would help. I'm not sure anything will help if you bring home a teacher more than 25 year older than you."

"I know you aren't religious like that, but if it matters to you we have years to discuss it."

Giles tried to distance himself “The kabbalah has many insights on mystic subjects. Such as ...” but Willow wouldn't let him go.

She pulled his head down for a kiss. "I didn't mean discuss it now. Now is the time for our own mystic rite." He couldn't fight when she touched him like that. He surrendered to her kiss.

"Willow, are you sure?"

"Yes I'm sure. Now don't talk unless you're going to tell me you love me."

"Willow, do you love me?"

"Yes, Giles, I love you with my whole heart and my whole soul."

The tension in his body was incredible. It drove them both toward the bedroom. They didn't notice the glow of the candles or the soft music or the clean sheets as they fell to the bed. Giles put his hand under the hem of her shirt and touched her breast. Frantically he pushed up her top so he could behold both breasts. She was trying to remove his jacket. "No, Willow, let's not hurry this" he said with soft intensity. "Lifemates have years together, but lovers have only one first time."

"This is a ceremonial mystic rite for us isn't it?" she asked.

"Yes, my love" Giles replied. They sat up and he reverently slipped her shirt over her head and off. He bent his head and slowly, gently kissed one breast, then the other. He kissed and sucked and touched until Willow was moaning loudly.

Finally he drew back. "More" he whispered. Willow stood and turned away so he could unfasten her skirt. He pushed it down and she stepped out. Her lovely backside was revealed in tiny black panties. She was wearing thigh-hi stockings and her usual loafers. Giles turned her toward him. She rested one hand on his shoulder and smiled softly as she removed her shoes. He could hardly breathe as she sat down beside him and rolled down her stockings. As she stood again to remove her panties he reached out and slid them down over her hips until she could step out of them. He tangled his fingers briefly in her curls before he pulled back to look at her. She stood totally exposed before him, still totally confident.

Willow reached out and took off his glasses. Giles started to shrug out of his jacket and she pushed it off his shoulders. She untied his tie as he unfastened the buttons of his shirt and they removed them together. She knelt down and took off his shoes and socks, stroking his feet in a maddening way. She stood again and held out her hand for him to rise. He did as if in a trance. He stood staring, arms at sides as she carefully unfastened his trousers and lowered them to the floor. She had to beckon him to step out of the discarded clothing. As she reached for his boxers he realized that one touch could make him come. He motioned her back and removed them himself. Now it was her turn to stare. "Jeepers. I've done the research. I looked at the pictures. I read the statistics and, like, wow" Willow blurted out.

Slowly they stepped together and wrapped their arms around each other with a deep kiss. Each seemed to be trying to devour the other. Hands clenched at buttocks and begin to roam all over. They wanted to claim every inch. He needed to possess her, but how? He would last only a few strokes in this condition and she couldn't be ready yet. While he tried to think she pushed him back to a seat on the bed and kneeled down before him. Seeing what Willow was about to do Giles managed to gasp out "Condoms in the drawer." She found the box and for a second she looked confused, then she apparently remembered the instructions. Slowly and carefully she opened the packet, left a reservoir and unrolled the sheath over his hard cock. Then she slid the tip of his cock into her mouth and licked him as best she could. It wasn't practiced but it was heaven for Giles. He began to stroke back and forth in her mouth, just short slow strokes. She took his rhythm and they built together, but not for long. "Willow, oh gods Willow, I'm going to come!" He exploded. Willow had a look of triumph on her face.

Giles couldn't stop looking at her and it was too late to stop loving her but could he get hard twice in one night? Willow answered his unasked question. "Hey, if a 16 year old girl can't make you get it up twice in one night you're not having a mid-life crisis, you're already dead and just haven't noticed yet."

He laughed to hear such words coming from dear sweet Willow's mouth.It made him want to hear more. "To pay for that remark you'll have to beg me, beg me to do what you want."

Giles pulled Willow onto the bed and dived between her thighs. He paused to inhale her fragrance. Her smell seared into his brain. He stroked her lightly with his tongue. She moved under him, first retreating from the new sensation, then craving it. His pace increased. Her body convulsed as she came. "Oh Giles, Oh God, I'm ready, Please, Giles."

"Oh no, that's not begging."

Carefully Giles slid one finger into her. She was wet but so tight.He was afraid he might hurt her badly but he began to lick her lightly again, just flicking the tip of this tongue across her clit. He felt her relax around his finger and knew she would be all right. He teased her until she was moaning and pressing his head against her. He relented and increased his pressure until she came a second time. "Please, please do it. Aren't you ready?"

"I'm ready" he replied as he rolled onto his side to show her how ready he was. "But you aren't quite begging."

"Couldn't you at least put it on?"

"That's good, that's very close to begging so I'll do that."

Giles moved away from her just long enough to don another condom. He started tonguing her and then stopped and very carefully put two fingers inside her. Willow cried out in pleasure but Giles could feel that a third finger would break her barrier. He didn't think that would count and now he knew he had to keep her forever. He licked her more, lightly nibbling on her clit as he slid his fingers all the way in, then almost completely out. Willow cried, "Giles, make love to me, fuck me, pleaseput your cock in me!"

"Now, that's begging, my love."

He immediately moved up her body to do as she asked. "This will hurt but I'll do my best."

"JUST DO IT, please." Giles used his hand and looked as well as he could to aim for the perfect alignment. He pushed into Willow's virgin passage and felt her tear. She couldn't help screaming.

"It's all right. Yell as loudly as you need to. I'll go slowly."

"No, no, fast, so I'll feel the pleasure more than the pain."

"Will you?" He began to move within her.

"I think so," she gasped. He obeyed and pumped into her as quickly, although not as deeply, as he could.

"Oh yes, oh yes" Willow grabbed his backside and dug her nails in. That was the final spur. They came together and were suffused with the blush of the blood bond.

"Oh, Willow, I promise I will love and treasure you forever."

"Giles, I promise I'll love you forever too."

Blood Bond Epilogue

Giles rolled off Willow and reached for a clean, very soft handkerchief he had placed next to the bed. He moved back between her legs kissing her softly and blotting the thankfully small amount of blood. He carefully set the handkerchief on the table. "Aren't you going to throw that away?" Willow asked.

"Never, it represents the most precious moment my life has ever had."

"This was the most precious moment of my life too. But I will have to get home. Can you set an alarm for four A.M.?"

"I hate that you have to leave."

"You need your job, unless you can find another Hellmouth we can all move to."

"The gods forbid there's such a place."

"Exactly, so set the alarm and don't cry for what we can't have yet."

"In some ways you're wiser than I."

"Yes, but I still love you." They slept in each others arms the rest of the night, or at least until 4 A.M.

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I appreciate all comments. Let me know if I misspelled something. This was beta read by my dspouse but it was long ago.


End file.
